8^2 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



646. !5TEUNA AN^STHETA, Scopoli.— ( 612) 



lb', ijanayensisy Gmeiiu. 

 BROWN-WINGED (PANAYAN) TERN. 



figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. a. 



Rejerence. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. loi. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould: Birds of Australia (1848), 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 411 (1865) ; Legge : Birds of Ceylon, 

 p. 1042 (1880); North: Austn. Mus. Cat., pi. 356 (1889); 

 Hume — Uates : Nests and liggs of Indian Birds, vol. 111., 

 p. 300 (1890). 



Giiiyrapldcu} Di.itriljutiun. — Seas of Ausu'alia iu general; also 

 trojjical and sub-tropical seas of other parts of the world. 



Nest. — A bare spot under shelving stones, or a crevice iu a rock, 

 sometimes under a bush, &c., chiefly on isolated islets. Nests single or 

 six or seven near each other, according to the situation. 



E(j(jn. — Clutch, one; broad oval iu shapa; textui'e of shell com- 

 paratively line ; smiace sUghtly glossy ; colour, varies from warmish- 

 white to pinkish-buff, occasionally with a perceptible greenish tinge, 

 blotched and spotted, pai-ticularly on the apex, with dark chestnut or 

 rich reddish-brown and dull pui-plish-brown. When held up to the 

 hght the inside lining appears of a beautiful sea-green. Dimensions in 

 inches; (1) I'S x 1-26, (2) 1-78 x 1-33, (3) 1-77 x 1-3, (4) 1-76 x 1-3. 

 (Plato 24.) 



Observations. — The Panayan or Brown-winged Tern, with its piu'e 

 white uiider-parts and dark back, is an elegant bird, and, except for its 

 lesser size, resembles the Sooty Tern in appearance. 



The Panayan Teru frequents the tropical and sub-tropical seas, 

 being migratory iu parts. It visits the north-eastern coast of Australia 

 and as far south on the western coast as Rottnest Island, where I found 

 it breeding. 



I did not find the pretty Tern exactly on Rottnest Island, but on 

 Phillip and Duck Rocks adjacent thereto, where I took several single 

 eggs on the 21st November, 1889. Sometimes the birds were so far in 

 the clefts of rocks as to be nearly in darkness. One of the sitting birds 

 I caught was a male. Pilot Giimorc and his crew were good enough to 

 take me out to explore these rocks. On Phillip Rock, which lies at 

 the entrance of Thompson Bay, we observed several pairs of the Brown- 

 winged Tents, with swallow-like forked tails and graceful buoyant flight, 

 crossing and recTOSsing the face of the islet, uttoiing cries like the 

 barking of a small dog. We searched under the shelving rocks and 

 loose slabs of sandstone for their eggs, and were rewarded by discoveiiiig 

 one or two examples far down in dai-kened recesses, with the male birtl 

 sitting. On Duck Rock, near the pilot look-out station, we took eight 

 or nine single eggs of the Panayan Tern. The eggs were all fresh. 

 This trip we were iu charge of Pilot Butcher. 



